


Marks of fate

by Mechanical_Curse



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Misunderstandings, Past Child Abuse, Pining, Season/Series 03 Spoilers, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24041077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mechanical_Curse/pseuds/Mechanical_Curse
Summary: When he was a child, other people saw Oswald as a freak, because in a world where everyone had a soulmark on their wrist, he was born with two names instead of one.The first one was Edward Nygma, the second, Riddler.
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Edward Nygma
Comments: 8
Kudos: 176





	Marks of fate

In a world where everyone had a soulmark, Oswald Cobblepot was born with two.

The names were already written on his skin when he took his first breath, when his mother held him in her arms for the first time. Years later, he would learn that this was a rare occurrence in itself. Most soulmarks didn’t appear until you were five years old. For some unfortunate people, their mark never showed up at all.

More often than once, Oswald had envied their terrible fate.

From his point of view, the names he bore on his body, one on each wrist, were his personal curse.

Back when he was still a young kid and didn’t understand the true signification of soulmates yet, he used to cherish them though. His mother would always smile at him brightly when he brought up his marks, saying that he was blessed, that this meant that he would be loved twice as much, that he was a very special boy. Oswald would often be staring at the names before falling asleep, even though he couldn’t read them yet. They made him feel safe, secure. Wanted.

That was before the cruelty of the world changed it forever.

Outside of his household, people viewed him as a freak. Having two marks was unheard of. Also, at least one of his soulmates obviously being a man didn’t help to make thing easier on him. As he grew up, Oswald learned what was written on his wrists.

The first name, the one that sounded relatively normal, was Edward Nygma. It was written in a light, soft brown. The letters were small, scattered close to each other, as if trying not to take too much place. Their curves were elegant, though not as refined as those of his other mark.

The second name was Riddler. No surname to complete it, just a question mark. Its bright green color made it impossible to miss. The letters were huge, extravagant, unique. He never met anyone who had a soulmark as gaudy as his.

Of course, it only made things worse. He heard people talk about his marks, about what it could mean. Maybe he had two soulmates because one of them would die. Maybe he would cheat with one of them with the other. Maybe he would have a double life, with two families not knowing about each other.

The question mark didn’t help to make people go easier on him. There was whispers about that too. How could a soulmark be a question? Did it mean that their love wouldn’t be real? Or that there was a chance that Oswald would never meet Riddler, whoever they were?

All the other kids mocked him, bullied him. Oswald learned early how cruel the world was. It made him yearn for revenge, for power over those who wouldn’t stop insulting him. It lead him to a life of crime and violence.

However, having two soulmarks turned out to be an advantage once he started meddling with gangs. Despite their differences, Fish Mooney, Falcone and Maroni had all their men following the same rule: before joining the business, they had to show their soulmark, as proof of their loyalty. That way, their soulmate would be endangered if they ever committed betrayal.

Edward Nygma sounded like a traditional name, easy to track, contrary to Riddler. Oswald concealed the first one and showed the second to anyone who asked. With all the harassment he had faced in his youth, he had learned to hide his marks long ago. And so, when he entered Fish Mooney’s organization, no one remembered the scrawny kid with two soulmates that he had once been.

The mark still raised suspicion though, with how strange it was. All the people he worked for used special chemicals on it at some point, meant to erase anything from the skin that wasn’t a soulmark. It burned Oswald’s wrist every time, had him clench his fists and grit his teeth, but the words stayed there, glowing bright on his pale skin.

After Jim Gordon spared his life at the pier, life didn’t really give him any time to reflect on soulmates. He had to be clever, always on his guards, to navigate between Falcone, Maroni and Fish Mooney. But in the end, after being almost crushed in a car, which was by far the most terrifying experience of his life, success smiled at him. Fish Mooney’s club was his.

And he decided to go hand Jim his invitation in person, unaware of how that would change his life forever.

Once at the GCPD, he immediately felt the curious stare of the forensic scientist. For Oswald, that kind of thing was like a second nature. In his field of business, not being aware of his surroundings meant being dead. He didn’t think much of the strange man at first, not until he asked for his name.

“Who are you?”

“Edward” Oswald’s heart missed a beat, just like every time someone with that name introduced himself to him. “Nygma.”

And just like that, in a second, Oswald’s world was turned upside down. This man, with his silly riddles, he was his soulmate. How should he react? What should he do? There were in the precinct, surrounded by cops, hell his soulmate worked with them, worked with the police…

“I know who _you_ are.”

This didn’t help to calm Oswald in the slightest. If he knew who he was, then did that mean… did that mean that Edward knew they were soulmates? Was he waiting for Oswald to say something, to make a move on him?

Despite his internal turmoil, Oswald managed to keep a blank face through it all. It wasn’t the moment to be reckless. He needed to think with his brain, not with his heart. His mind drifted to his _other_ soulmark and he suddenly felt the need to scratch his arm were Riddler’s name was embed into his skin.

All the mean comments about his soulmarks being unnatural, nothing but a disaster waiting to happen, flooded back to his mind. Maybe the kindest thing to do would be to reject Edward, to keep him at a distance so he wouldn’t get his heartbroken.

Perhaps he would follow that path. Perhaps not. Anyway, he was in a room full of cops and criminals. It certainly wasn’t the place to let anyone know that Edward was his soulmate. It would only put a target on the man.

“Then you know that you’re standing too close.”

Edward took a step back, but there was a defying spark in his eyes that Oswald just couldn’t miss.

“Did you know that male emperor penguins keep their eggs warm by balancing them on their feet? Isn’t that neat?”

This time, he gritted his teeth. That forensic boy was lucky that they were in a public place and that he was his soulmate, or else he would have suffered retaliation from the Penguin. As things were, he just decided not to bother with this any longer. He came here with a purpose, after all, and anyway, he would need some time to think about this whole soulmate situation before deciding how to deal with it.

“Nice to meet you, sir. Keep moving.”

“Will do.”

As much as tried to be unaffected, he knew that Edward’s smug smile would haunt him for the next few days.

* * *

In the end, Oswald decided that the best course of action was to do nothing about his soulmate, to keep acting as if nothing happened. Maroni wanted his skin and he had trouble managing this club. Adding a soulmate to that equation would result into a chaos he wasn’t able to handle at the moment.

His decision was also linked to all the gossips that surrounded his soulmarks during his youth. Deep down, Oswald felt insecure about whether or not he could make his soulmate happy. A soulmate who loved riddles when Oswald disliked that kind of time wasting, silly things.

Edward didn’t seek him either, which encouraged Oswald to keep his distance. Some nights, it kept him awake, wondering why his soulmate decided to stay away from him. Did he find Oswald unattractive? Was he angry that his soulmates was a man? Was he disgusted by his involvement in Gotham’s underground world? Edward did work for the GCPD, that was a point he’d better never forget.

And then… Then Maroni visited his club and threatened his mother, which left his mind too busy to reflect on soulmate matters. As long as no one knew who Edward was to him, he would be safe. Oswald’s only regret was not having been so careful with his own family. That was what he got for thinking ahead of himself, for believing that he was already untouchable.

But oh, they would pay, all the ones who tried to attack him or his loved ones. They would pay.

* * *

Maroni took a bullet to the brain. Fish was pushed into the ocean. Falcone left the city.

Oswald became king of Gotham. His dream came true. With an empire to rule, he found himself having to deal with new challenges. Winning the throne was only the first step, now he needed to be strong enough to defend it.

He believed he was ready for the task, but all his certainties crumbled when Galavan kidnapped his mother.

Oswald thought he had been careful, thought that he had hired enough men to protect her. Reality proved him wrong.

And as if his humiliation wasn’t already great enough, Galavan ordered him to show him his soulmark or he would kill her. Oswald didn’t have any other choice than to obey. Thankfully, the Riddler trick worked once more, even though through the whole ordeal, his heart was beating like crazy as he expected Galavan to ask him to show his _other_ wrist.

When he stepped back into the street, his arm was suffering the burn of chemicals once more, tears of frustration stained his cheeks and he had two candidates for mayor to kill.

The thing was, Oswald played by Gotham’s rules. Corruption and blackmail. Therefore, he was certain that Galavan would keep his mother alive to have leverage on him, to keep using him as his tool. And so, when he tried to rescue her, he didn’t expect Tabitha to kill her in cold blood, such for the pleasure of witnessing his own despair.

Oswald held her in his arms, tried to reassure her during her last moments, saw the life fade from her eyes. And then there was only grief, pain and rage, a rage so powerful he couldn’t contain it. That thirst for blood, for revenge, was the only thing that drove him to escape, to stay alive despite the despair nagging at his heart.

But then, he failed to kill Galavan, despite his best efforts. He ended up wounded and hunted, forced to hide himself into the woods. And just when he thought he hit rock bottom, when he believed he would die from his injuries, alone and helpless, he showed up. The last man Oswald expected to meet in such a place.

Edward Nygma. His soulmate.

He was so desperate for support, for comfort, that he laid all his barriers down. What was there to hide anyway? Since his mother’s death, he could barely spend a minute without sobbing and he was so weak that his legs couldn’t hold his weight anymore. Never in his life had he felt more vulnerable.

But he told himself that it was okay, that he could breakdown in front of Edward, because they were linked by fate. For the first time in years, he forgot all about the warnings of cruel people about his soulmates. Just when the one person he cherished with all his heart, the one person he could always count on disappeared, his soulmate showed up just as he was about to abandon all hope. This had to mean something, right?

And so, for the first time in forever, Oswald swallowed back his pride and relied on someone that wasn’t his, putting his life in Edward’s hands.

“Help me. Please.” He begged.

* * *

The next time he woke up, he was in a panic, not remembering how he got into Edward’s apartment. His injuries made everything blurry and the drugs his soulmate forced him so he would recover didn’t help with that either. But in the end, he managed to grasp a moment of clarity, which allowed him to ask Edward what he expected from him.

Oswald was waiting for a talk about soulmate and destiny. Oh, Edward brought up fate alright, but no mention of marks, only of murder. Oswald’s froze when he understood the path he wanted to venture on. The same path that only lead him to destruction and pain.

He didn’t want this for Edward, for his soulmate. The mockeries from his childhood came back to his mind once again, how he would only bring hurt and grief to his fated ones. No, he wouldn’t let it happen, wouldn’t ruin Edward just for the sake of his revenge against Galavan.

Even his anger wasn’t strong enough to motivate him anymore. He only felt empty. Numb. Because even if he were to success, even if he peeled Galavan’s skin each by each to make him suffer, even if he rebuilt his empire from ashes, that wouldn’t bring his mother back. He felt so small, so weak, so tired. Without Edward tending to his wounds, he might have just let himself die. But despite his protests, his soulmate never gave up on him, spoiling him with tender attentions, although sometimes strange.

However, he didn’t matter. Oswald knew what he had to do. He needed to leave as soon as possible, so that he couldn’t stay long enough to hurt Edward.

But then… Then Edward put on the song his mother used to sing to him at night. He looked at Oswald in the eye to tell him that he was a free man now, not attached to anyone. The words changed something in him, but not for the reason Edward expected. At that moment, Oswald realized that he did start caring for someone again, for Edward himself. As it turned out, he was a selfish man. After being robbed of everything he held dear, he just couldn’t let go of the one thing he had left.

And so, he decided to stay with Edward.

The other man slowly helped him to regain the will to live. He fed Oswald, entertained him, in a word, took care of him. He awakened back his desire of vengeance too, first by bringing that Leonard to him, then by telling him that Galavan had been declared innocent at his trial.

And so, with Edward by his side, Penguin was back in business.

* * *

However, he didn’t mention his soulmark to him. At first, he pretended it was because they had too much to plan, too much to organize, but in the end he had to accept the truth: he was scared. Scared that Edward already know they were soulmates and didn’t want to pursue anything more than a platonic relationship with him. Scared that he would run if he were ever to discover that Oswald had two marks instead of one.

And maybe, just maybe, Edward stayed silent about his mark because he wanted to learn to know Oswald by himself, to fall in love with him because he wanted so and not because destiny ordered them too. If that was the case, Oswald liked that idea. After all, he had found Edward weird at first, but was warming up to him every day. Maybe the way they were keeping things was for the best. No expectation, no pressure. Just the two of them doing crimes and plotting to take down Galavan.

He liked the sound of it and so he decided to stay silent about his marks.

Then he managed to kill Galavan, but not without any downfalls. In the process, Jim Gordon learned about his association with Edward. Later on, the cops caught him, took him to the precinct. Once again, he decided to take his distance with Edward, to protect him.

It was nice to know that someone would be bringing flowers to his mother’s grave, though.

It didn’t take long before he was sent into Arkham. At the entrance, they registered his soulmark. Again, he managed to hide Edward’s name from the prying eyes of the guard while he exposed Riddler’s to them. They made fun of him, about how they could barely believe that a freak like him even had a soulmate. Of course, they commented on how weird his soulmark was. Oswald gritted his teeth through the whole process, all while clinging to the thought of Edward and how he was keeping him safe.

Hugo Strange noted the name of his soulmate in his file as well. Oswald had never been more thankful for how good he had become at concealing Edward’s name with the years.

They messed with his brain. Tortured him to the point where he barely remembered who he was. Turned him into a pale, weak copy of himself. At some point, he even forgot about his second soulmark that stayed hidden to everyone’s eyes during his stay at Arkham, including his own.

Later on, he would consider this temporary memory loss a good thing. At least, his brainwashed self didn’t show up at Edward’s place bragging about how wonderful it was to have him as a soulmate. He still came to him for help, however, after being humiliated by Butch and Tabitha. Maybe he didn’t remember about his mark, but he recalled Edward nursing him back to health, singing with him, laughing with him.

After coming back to his senses, he wouldn’t resent Ed for turning him away that day. In his state, he would have been a threat to him, would have certainly denounced him to the police if he had seen him do anything illegal. But a small part of him would still wonder why his own soulmate didn’t worry more about him.

It took him losing his family once more to come back to his senses, to become again the man who was once king of Gotham. It hurt, to mourn his father when he wasn’t even done accepting the death of his mother. Then, Galavan reappeared back from the dead and he focused on his revenge once more.

It was only after the experiments of Indian Hill broke loose, after Fish Mooney got back in the city, that Oswald discovered Edward was held prisoner at the asylum. The moment he learned about it, he knew he couldn’t abandon him there. He wouldn’t let his soulmate rot in a cell, surrounded by crazies.

However, he couldn’t rush things. If he were to plan an evasion, it had to be prepared carefully. After all, the reason why Edward was here in the first place was because he killed cops and tried to frame Jim Gordon for murder. If he broke Edward out, the detective would be on their trail in no time, of that Oswald was sure. He wanted to free Edward for good, not to see him locked up again days or weeks after his escape.

He started by visiting Edward and sending him gifts whenever he could. Relief washed over him once he realized that Hugo Strange didn’t use Edward as one of his test subject. Just to think that his fated one could have been hurt irremediably, without Oswald even having a clue of what was happening at the time… It made him furious.

If he wanted to be absolutely sure that no harm would come to Edward ever again, he needed to keep him close.

To have Edward’s support… It helped him to become more confident, bolder. He treasured the little paper penguin he crafted for him. It convinced him that he could do more than he had ever imagined, that he didn’t have to hide forever in the shadows of Gotham’s underground world. Now, nothing stopped him from stepping into the spotlight.

Gaining the trust of the people of Gotham was surprisingly easy. And it gave him the power to do the one thing he yearned for: getting Edward out of Arkham. His certificate of sanity would protect him from any legal actions and Oswald would be able to count on his brilliant mind to help him during his campaign for mayor.

It didn’t go as smoothly as he expected. When Edward took back the money so that his election wouldn’t be bribed, he thought that he had betrayed him. It hurt more than anything, to think that his soulmate turned against him, after everything Oswald had done for him. But then… Then he felt the joy of being wanted, a feeling he hadn’t known in a long time, and he was convinced that Edward wanted nothing more than his happiness.

With each day that passed, his feelings for Edward grew stronger, until he realized the truth: he fell in love with Edward. It wasn’t just because they were soulmates, nor was this love at first sight. He had learned to know Edward and cherished every part of him, from his brilliant mind to his awkwardness around people.

And if he had any doubts left, they died the day Edward uncovered Butch’s conspiration against him. When he saw Edward on the floor, being strangled, his heart stopped. Nothing mattered expect saving him. And when he finally breathed again, in Oswald’s arms, he was overcome by joy and relief. This whole ordeal opened his eyes. He couldn’t keep on pretending that Edward and him were just meant to be friends. He needed to confess to him, confront him about their links as soulmates.

Oswald wanted the moment to be perfect. He had the nicest dinner possible prepared, he put on his nicest clothes and even rehearsed his speech. His heart was beating hard with excitement and anticipation as he waited for Edward to arrive.

But he never joined him that night. Oswald didn’t sleep for one second, fearing that something happened to him, that he was kidnapped or worse. And when Edward finally returned safe and sound, it was only to announce proudly that he fell in love with a woman.

At the words, Oswald’s heart broke into pieces. To him, that only confirmed one thing: since the beginning, since they met, Edward refused to recognize him as his soulmate. Why? Was it because he was a man? All those questions were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t get himself to ask them. Not when he feared the answers would destroy him for good.

Oh, he tried to frighten Isabella, to make her leave Edward, but to no avail. And to see them happy together, to them smile at each other, to see them _kiss_ … It was torture to him. Even as a friend, Edward grew more distant, spending most of his time with Isabella. Oswald’s anger and jealousy grew with each passing day. He wanted her _gone_.

Planning her murder was fairly easy. After all, Oswald was used to solving his problems with violence. For a moment, he believed it would bring everything back for normal. Edward would target Butch and Tabitha for revenge, then he would come back to him.

Then the one thing he desired with all his heart happened, or at least he thought so. Ed said he wanted them to be more than employer-employee. Oswald mistook it for the confession he yearned for.

The rejection he faced was brutal, left him wordless, on the edge of tears. He felt so stupid, for thinking that Ed might want him. All of a sudden, he remembered all the mockeries about his soulmarks, remembered how people told him he was cursed.

When he took a look at his soulmark in the privacy of his bedroom, he started thinking that they were right. Edward’s name had turned into an unhealthy black that was slowly spreading to the skin around it. The sign of a rejected soulbond.

While Oswald expected such a sight, he was still surprised by how quickly his mark changed. This didn’t only look like rejection. It looked like hate.

He tried to convince himself that it didn’t mean anything, that Edward and him were still friends. But it didn’t take long before reality caught up with him. It all started making sense when Edward revealed to him that he knew the true cause of Isabella’s death. Despite the ache in his wrist that should have warned him, he was still left shaken and lost when he understood to what lengths Edward had gone to hurt him. Desecrating his father’s remains, have him be humiliated on national TV, pretending he had been kidnapped…

When he tried to reason Edward so he would spare him, Oswald didn’t even mention his soulmark. By now, he had understood that it didn’t mean a thing to his friend — well, _former_ friend. Even now that everything had been taken from him, all his power, all his hope, he couldn’t bear to hear Edward mock their bond. Maybe he would call him stupid for believing in fated love and happy endings.

For the first time, Oswald started thinking that maybe he had two soulmates because Edward would never want him back and destiny decided to give him a second chance with this mysterious Riddler.

Except that he didn’t want it. Because despite everything, despite all the efforts Edward put into hurting him, Oswald still loved him.

That didn’t change even when Edward put a bullet in his chest at the pier and pushed him into the sea.

* * *

Oswald never expected to wake up again, and yet, he escaped death once more. His arm still hurt like hell, though. Apparently, his mark didn’t take well to have been almost _killed_ by his soulmate.

The pain was a pulsing, constant reminded of what he had lost. And even if he knew that his jealousy was to blame for Edward turning up on him, he knew that wasn’t the only reason. Barbara also played a part in convincing him to betray Oswald.

Maybe Oswald didn’t know how to deal with feelings such a love, longing and loneliness, but he sure knew how to react to resentment and rage. He would have his revenge on her. With the help of Ivy, he would build an army made of the freaks who survived Hugo Strange’s experiments.

Thanks to their alliance, it didn’t take long until he could return to the Van Dahl estate. It felt weird, to return to the abandoned mansion, now that it held so much memories of betrayal.

His heart almost stopped when he faced his portrait, disfigured by a green question mark that looked way too familiar for his own sanity. In an instinctive gesture, he gripped at his own wrist. It took a comment from Victor Fries and Ivy calling him Pengy to bring him back to reality. However, she had turned on the TV and what he heard made him froze once more.

“The Riddler, aka Edward Nygma was apprehended by the GCPD this afternoon after kidnapping Interim Mayor Aubrey James. However, while en route to Arkham Asylum, he managed to escape police custody and is now at large.”

 _Riddler_. Edward now called himself Riddler. And those question marks he used, so similar to the one drawn on Oswald’s skin…

Oswald saw only one logical answer to why he would do this. At some point, he must have seen his soulmark. It would make sense. After all, he drugged Oswald to make him fall asleep while he was nursing him back to health, didn’t he? He would have had all the time in the world to look at his soulmark while he was out. He shouldn’t be surprised. In the criminal world, nobody cared about the privacy of soulmarks.

That wasn’t the worst though. No, what really hurt him was to think that even now that Edward thought him dead, he still used the name and symbol of his soulmark to mock him. Or maybe was this a way for him to lure the real Riddler? Was he not content with his vengeance? Did he have to kill the one person who might have loved Oswald to be truly satisfied?

Oswald didn’t say a word of all this out loud, not in front of Ivy, Firefly and Fries. However, deep down he knew that he wasn’t done dealing with Edward Nygma. He would find him and make him pay for his.

* * *

His quest to find Edward lead him to defy the Court of Owls and to end up in a cell, right next to the man he was looking for. The tension in the air was palpable. They taunted each other, until Edward pronounced the words that drove mad Oswald made with anger.

“But don’t you dare call me Ed. I’m the Riddler.”

He clenched his fists against the bars of his cage, wishing it was Edward’s neck he was strangling instead.

“Shut up! I could forgive you lots of things Ed, hell I could even forgive your attempt to kill me, but you drew the line at messing with the name of my soulmate!”

Edward’s eyes grew wide with surprise and incomprehension, but Oswald wouldn’t let the other man fool him.

“What are you talking about, Oswald?”

“Don’t play innocent. You know exactly what this is about.”

“No, I don’t. This has nothing to do with soulmates and I don’t know why you’re suddenly…”

“It has everything to do with soulmates!” Oswald screamed.

Edward flinched at his outburst, retreating into the back of his own cell in fear that Oswald would try to attack him. But the Penguin had other ideas in mind. In a burst of rage, he almost ripped the sleeve of his prisoner suit, only to reveal the name etched on his skin. _Riddler ?_ . Edward’s mouth fell open as he let out a gasp of surprise.

“How…?”

However, Oswald wasn’t done. With tears filling his eyes, he started to uncover his other wrist. It took him a little longer, to get rid of all the concealer that hid his hideous, black soulmark. By now, Edward’s name had turned into a haunting white and the letters were drooling all over his skin.

“Now, don’t tell me this isn’t about soulmates when I’m hurting every day because of how much you hate me!”

Oswald didn’t expect Edward to reach for him. And so, he barely managed to dodge in time when his fingers brushed against his disformed soulmark. Surprisingly, the look in his eyes didn’t speak of hatred or mockery. No, Ed looked almost… shocked.

“So that’s why you couldn’t bare to see me without Isabella. Why you killed her. You thought I was rejecting you.”

Oswald couldn’t help but let out a strangled, sad laugh.

“Are you blind, Ed? You did reject me.”

The other man shook his head.

“No, I didn’t. Not on purpose, at least. Oswald, why… Why didn’t you tell me? About your soulmark?”

“Is this another one of your games, Ed? You know perfectly why. You never acknowledged our bond, never wanted me to be more than an acquaintance. You made it clear time and time again that you didn’t want to pursue a relationship with me, soulmate or not.”

Edward’s expression changed again. It looked… pain? Oswald had a feeling the control of the situation was escaping him and he didn’t like it. Edward should have been mocking him, antagonizing him, so why did he look he was on the verge of tears.

“I can’t believe we’ve been so blind, you, the king of Gotham, and me, the most brilliant mind of this forsaken city…”

This time, Oswald was definitely taken aback. He sure didn’t expect Ed to use his old title ever again.

It was Edward’s turn to pull back the sleeve of his suit, with far more grace and patience that Oswald. However, it didn’t reveal his name like Oswald was expecting. All he could see was burned and marred skin covering all of Edward’s forearm. The injury was old, but he still winced just at imagining how painful it must have been. Erasing a soulmark for good wasn’t an easy task and he could only imagine what Edward had been though to end up with such a result.

“What… How… Who did this to you?”

Despite everything that happened between them, despite Edward’s treason, anger rose in Oswald’s heart in seeing him hurt. He felt the need to find those who harmed him in such a horrible way and to have them suffer a long, painful agony.

“My abusive parents. I was still a child when my mark appeared. I didn’t even know how to read yet. My father was drunk and when he discovered what was written on my arm, he went furious. He burned my words with a hot poker until he was sure they would never reappear again. My mother stood by and did nothing to stop him. Now that I look back on it, I guess he must have been mad that my soulmate was a man. This is why I was dating women like Kristen and Isabella, who didn’t care about soulmarks or didn’t have one. I thought I would never get the chance to meet my soulmate, not with absolutely no clue on how to find them.”

Realization fell upon Oswald. Suddenly, he felt so stupid, so angry at himself for never mentioning his soulmark in front of Ed. They could have spared themselves all the pain, all the hurt…

“So, all this time… You really had no idea…”

“I’m sorry for everything I did to you, Oswald. If I had known…”

“This is my fault too. If only I had confronted you about our bond, instead of orchestrating Isabella’s death… We wouldn’t be here now…”

When Edward tried again to touch Oswald’s forearm, he didn’t shy away. His fingers caressed the sharp, angry lines of his soulmark. He shivered under his touch, his breath caught in his throat. Slowly, the black colors started to recede, until they disappeared completely. His soulmark went back to its original brown color and the constant throbbing in his arm stopped. He stared at Edward with wide, unbelieving eyes, because he knew that this meant. Edward just fixed their severed bond. Accepted him as his soulmate.

“But wait… If you didn’t know about my soulmarks… Then, Riddler…”

“Isn’t it obvious? Oswald, you have _both_ my names written on your skin.”

“It still doesn’t make any sense! Why would I have two different names for just one person.”

Edward put his glasses back in place in a nervous gesture, suddenly looking distraught.

“Oh dear… I think that might be because of me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Personality disorder. I mean, I have personality disorder. There’s two of me in here.” He pointed at his own forehead. “Ed and Riddler. Sometimes there’s this other me who appears to me, talks to me, makes me do… things.”

“Are you messing with me again?”

“No, no, no, this is real! And quite liberating too, if I’m being honest. It takes its toll on a man, to keep a secret like that. And those names on your wrists… It’s the proof that this is real, that I’m not just insane.”

The eagerness in Ed’s voice was enough to melt Oswald’s heart. He wanted to believe him, to have another chance at happiness. Also, now that they were so close to each other, with only the bars of their cells separating them, the fact that Edward hadn’t tried to choke him yet made him believe in his sincerity.

“So, Ed and Riddler… How exactly are you two… different?”

“Well, remember when we met for the first time at the GCPD? Shy, awkward, clumsy, embarrassing people with his riddles? That was all Ed. As for Riddler, well… He is more confident, more assertive. More prone to violence and murder, too. Oh and he dislikes wearing my glasses. He always appears to me without having them on.”

Oswald couldn’t help but smile fondly at that last detail. Of course Edward would focus on little things like that.

“So Ed is the cute part of you and Riddler is the hot one. Got it.”

A feeling of pride blossomed in his chest when Edward blushed at his words. He couldn’t resist the temptation and raised his hand so he could brush his knuckles against the soft skin of his soulmate’s cheek. Edward stared straight at him, brown eyes locked in his green ones, then he grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into a kiss.

It wasn’t perfect, far from it. Neither of them was experienced at this and the bars that separated them made the angle awkward. The steel dug into their skin, rendering their embrace uncomfortable. And yet, nothing had ever felt more right to both of them. They were meant to be together, bonded by fate and their bodies recognized it.

Oswald took his time to savor Edward’s soft lips. When they parted, they were both out of breath, still shaken by that sudden shift in their universe.

“So, who kissed me? Edward or Riddler?”

“Both of us. We both want you, Oswald.”

There was an animalistic edge in Edward’s voice and Oswald decided that he liked it. However, there was still one mystery he needed to solve.

“Wait, there’s one thing I don’t understand. If you are both my soulmates, then why was only one of my bounds severed when you discovered I killed Isabella?”

Edward rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, clearly unpleased. He answered in a groan:

“Because _he_ always believed that I would end up killing her anyway, just like with Kristen. And don’t get me started on what he would say after I started having hallucinations of you.”

“You had hallucinations of me?”

Edward let out a deep sigh.

“See, that’s why I never mentioned that side of me before.”

Oswald found they way he pouted adorable, not that he would dare say it to Ed’s face. His soulmate — No, _soulmates_ — wanted him. It was a new feeling for him, warm and comforting. Something told him that he would never get enough of it. However, he didn’t forget that they weren’t exactly in the best place right now.

“Now that all misunderstanding has been cleared out, what do you think of escaping?”

The grin that welcomed his proposition did weird things to his heart.

“I have a lockpick and a tranquilizing dart I stole from one the guards. Shouldn’t be too hard, especially if I can count on your help.” Edward stopped for an instant, frowning. “Although I fear things won’t be easy for you once we get out of here. Barbara rules Gotham’s underworld now and when she gets word of your return, she’ll try to kill you once and for all.”

“I have an army of Hugo Strange’s monsters at my command. Taking back control shouldn’t be too hard either, especially with you by my side.”

He leaned in for one more kiss and Edward happily claimed his lips again. Both his soulmarks pulsed, but this time they radiated a pleasant warmth through his skin. He didn’t care anymore if having two of them made him a freak to the eyes of other people. All that mattered was that he was finally reunited with the man he had always been destined for.


End file.
